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Taking place at the Grabouw Country Club in the infamous Elgin/Grabouw area, Fedhealth XTERRA Grabouw presented by Rehidrat Sport is the perfect venue to host the XTERRA South African Championships! The unforgiving yet extremely beautiful and rewarding terrain provides a fair and awesome challenge to all warriors!

Fedhealth XTERRA Grabouw is very proudly the biggest XTERRA in the world and sees over two thousand XTERRA Warriors contending for the coveted title of SA Champion and numerous age group qualification slots for the XTERRA World Championship held annually in October in Hawaii!

This is a true celebration of South Africa’s healthy and active lifestyle and our overseas visitors are always in awe of this culture!

EVENT FAST FACTS

Date:

Fedhealth XTERRA Kids:

19 February 2016

Fedhealth XTERRA Lite:

20 February 2016

Fedhealth XTERRA Full:

21 February 2016

PUMA 6km and 12km Trail Run

20 February 2016

Venue:

Grabouw Country Club

Start Times:

Fedhealth XTERRA Kids:

15h00

Fedhealth XTERRA Lite:

09h00

PUMA 5km and 12km Trail Run:

07h00

Fedhealth XTERRA Full:

08h30

Pre-Entries Open:

17 August 2015

Pre-Entries Close:

11 February 2016

Grabouw, situated in the Western Cape atop the Sir Lowry’s Pass, is a mountain paradise for the outdoor enthusiast.

For the XTERRA Warrior, Grabouw offers the opportunity to mountain bike in widely varying conditions. From gravel fire roads to rough jeep track and technically challenging single track, pine plantations to Cape Fynbos. Surface conditions are also varied, from ragged rocky conditions, pine needle covered trail, loose gravel and of course the ubiquitous sand! Grabouw is NOT flat, you will need to have your climbing legs with you and you will need your descending skills finely tuned. It is, after all, the XTERRA South African Championship forming part of the XTERRA World Circuit!

ROUTE DESCRIPTIONS

Swim:

Distances:

Lite 400m,

Full 1,5km

MTB:

XTERRA Full Route:

Distance: 27km

Total Ascent: 700m

Waterpoints: 2 (9km and 19km)

XTERRA Lite Route:

Distance: 12,5km

Total Ascent: 350m

Waterpoints: 1 (6km)

For the XTERRA Warrior, Grabouw offers the opportunity to mountain bike in widely varying conditions. From gravel fire roads to rough jeep track and technically challenging single track, pine plantations to Cape Fynbos. Surface conditions are also varied, from ragged rocky conditions, pine needle covered trail, loose gravel and of course the ubiquitous sand! Grabouw is NOT flat, you will need to have your climbing legs with you and you will need your descending skills finely tuned. It is, after all, the XTERRA South African Championship forming part of the XTERRA World Circuit!

After the start there are enough dual tracks to ensure ample passing opportunity for the Mountain Bikers who are not the fastest in the water, before turning up a steep dual track which will test the legs after the swim. The technical sections that follow will benefit the capable mountain bikers as the terrain continually varies.

The first half of the route is mostly climbing to the highest point of 538m, but the tricky downhill sections with a good variety of riding surfaces, including a few sandy patches as well as fast loose pebble covered sweeps, will keep the concentration levels high. Riders will reach the highest point (538m) on the route after 12km of riding – the views from this point are for free.

After 13km the fun starts! By this stage the self identified ‘real mountain bikers’ out there should have been able to pass the strong swimmers in the competition and have a clear ride to enjoy some of the best single track on offer in the area, including 3,7km of new trails – never previously used in Xterra. The iconic rock garden is once again included in the route which will require riders to keep their wits about them as they descend this technical section.

It is not all downhill from here; you will see from the profile that there are enough short steep climbs in the last half to benefit the stronger riders. When hitting these last climbs the individuals should keep in mind that the Totalsports Xterra Run route is still awaiting them.

Riders with good technical skills will have an advantage on this route as riders will be required to work hard and concentrate on every part of the route. There is very little room for hesitation, especially on the steep rocky descents and riders will be required to react quickly on corners and changes in terrain- there are lots of surprises!

RUN:

XTERRA Full Route:

Distance: 12,5km

Total Ascent: 350m

Waterpoints: 5 (1,5km; 4km; 6,8km and 9km)

XTERRA Lite Route:

Distance: 6km

Total Ascent: 150m

Waterpoints: 2

For the Trail Runners, the challenge does not stop. Although you will be able to stretch the running legs initially on jeep track, it will not be too long before the ‘scramble’ starts. Varying between jeep track and single track, the trail run leg will take the Xterra athlete up slopes and along certain trails that are not accessible to the mountain biker, thus offering spectacular views not normally seen by the casual visitor to Grabouw. After the main climb and the following descent, the trail run will bring the XTERRA athlete along the shores of the Eikenhof Dam, back to the finish line and well deserved refreshment. Runners will need to ensure that some energy is saved to tackle the last section along the beach!

NUMBER COLLECTION:

ENTRY FEES:

Fedhealth XTERRA FULL Individual:

Fedhealth XTERRA FULL Teams:

Fedhealth XTERRA LITE Individual:

Fedhealth XTERRA LITE Teams:

TSA License Fee (XTERRA FULL ONLY):

R80

*Please note that participants of the XTERRA Full events will be required to purchase a temporary licence of R80 from TSA should they not be an affiliated member already. This can be done while entering the Fedhealth XTERRA Full.